The Eternal Heist

The Eternal Heist

Thinking about book covers and the process involved with their design has had me thinking about The House on the Borderland.

There is no cover for the book yet. But it has been on my mind for weeks, rest assured. With all of the things I’ve been doing this December, it’s been rather busy. HOWEVER, what I have been thinking about is something I’ve come to refer to as the eternal heist. It’s tied to The House on the Borderland . . .

What is the Eternal Heist? I’ll tell you what, I’ll spare the long exposition, because you’ve probably figured out what it is: theft, larceny, andthe never ending cycleit involves.

But what are we stealing, precious?

Ideas.

The eternal heist is the constant recycling of ideas old and new, conscious and subconscious, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and so on and so forth . . . I think the best way to put it is: everybody’s stealing from everybody else!

This myrddraal wants pudding. OR ELSE!

We all know this, and for the most part we’re okay with it, given that the one doing the stealing is making an attempt at some form of originality. If you really wanted to, you could argue that the re-use and recycling of old ideas is an excellent example of how parallel universes are made. Or babies, in a bizarre, fragmented way . . .

Reading The House on the Borderland made me think about this topic a little bit more, especially since Jordan’s Trollocs sound a lot like Hodgeson’s Swine-Things. It wasn’t until I saw the screen shots of the cave creatures in The Descent that I really started to think about the constant re-use of old ideas. Apparently the movie was inspired by the book, which was like icing on a cupcake to me.

The Descent has Swine-Things; Trollocs are like Swine-Things; Swine-Things are like Orcs; Orcs are basically Goblins, and that idea comes from something else.

Let’s do another one.

Shades are like Myrddraal; Myrddraal are like Black Riders; Black Riders are like bogey men, something, something, and something.

I won’t go into detail because the lists can be extensive.

Before I go I would like to add that I am a fan of The Wheel of Time series, and that I have read the entire Inheritance Cycle too (where I’m pulling the Shades in question from); I’ll save my thoughts and feelings on the two series for another time, though.

This entry has been brought to you by Penny C. If you like what we’re doing, spread us to the far corners of the world, and love the monster on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @monstrousenigma And don’t forget to check out our Instagram: enigmaticmonster